Euro Grow Light

I have read the Compact gets very hot when it's on, is it safe and why does this happen?

The Compact ballast from Maxigrow is by far the most reliable ballast on the market. In the 10 years we've been selling them we've only had a handful of returns. You may have noticed that we only sell two brands of lighting, Powerplant and Maxigrow, the reason we do this is that in our opinion these are currently the most reliable brands on the market. With regards to the heat question, the answer is that they designed to run hot, and are entirely safe. The internal workings of the ballast are potted in resin to eliminate operating noise (these ballasts are 100% silent in operation), the outer black casing material is widely used in the petroleum industry as a heat dissipation material; it pulls the heat away from the inner workings of the ballast and results in a long life ballast that will give you years of trouble free use.

What kind of area do these lights cover?

It depends on how far above the plant you position the light, but as a rough guide the 250W version will cover around 0.5m to 0.8m, the 400W version will cover around 0.7m to 1.0m and the 600W version will cover around 1.0m to 1.5m.

How much electricity do these lights use?

To work out how much electricity they use simply find out how much you pay per for your electricty per kilowatt hour (1000W), divide this figure by 1000 then multiply by the wattage of the light. For example, if you pay £0.09 pence per kilowatt hour and you wish to work out how much it will cost to run a 400W light, simply divide 0.09 by 1000 then multiply the result by 400 (you would be paying 3.6 penece per hour that the light was switched on). Simple as that, and this rule applies to all grow lights and CFL lights.

How do I hang these lights?

If your reflector is say 50cm long, you will need two fixing points approx this distance apart that are capable of taking the weight of the reflector (this reflector weighs around 2KG). Most people tend to screw a couple of vine eyes into whatever surface is above the light, and then use either jack chain or Easy-Rolls to lower and raise the lights as needed.